Robertson

Robertson, a residential suburb, adjoins Coopers Plains and Sunnybank and is 12 km south-east of central Brisbane. It is associated with the suburbs around Mount Gravatt named after Queensland public figures, such as MacGregor.

Robertson was named in 1967 after Dr William Robertson (1866-1938), Vice Chancellor of the University of Queensland, 1926-38. He was also a foundation member of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

In the mid-1960s Robertson was the unsubdivided southern part of Sunnybank, defined by Musgrave Road and a drive-in picture theatre at the corner of Musgrave and Troughton Roads. A shopping centre, Sunnybank Plaza, was opened in 1975 at the south-east corner of Robertson, and a State primary school in the middle of the suburb was opened in 1980. The population grew more than threefold to over 3000 between 1976 and 1986 as the Nathan campus of Griffith University (1975) developed. The primary school's enrolment topped 600 in 2002.

Sunnybank Plaza was refurbished and enlarged in 1989 and 1995, growing to 30,000 sq metres, with a Kmart, supermarkets, cinemas and 122 other shops.